in case there are others who have never heard this term before
Code-switching is the practice of selectively switching between languages during a conversation, a phenomenon that’s deeply familiar to bilingual and multilingual people in the U.S.
Languages and accents/vernacular.
I was pointing this out to my father and youngest brother when this Louisiana politicians ad came on and he sounded like he was from the bayou!
I said something to the effect “I bet he doesn’t sound like that at his fund-raising dinners”.
And of course they lost there shit and of course my racist father almost immediately says “blacks do it”!
Sigh. Somebody tell me when it’ll be ok to hurt these kinds of people.
Personally, I’ve only ever heard “code-switching” used to refer to switching between different accents/vernacular, I suppose that switching between entirely different languages also checks the boxes to be code-switching, but I don’t know, it feels kind of weird to use that term in that case to me.
I feel like the sort of classic code-switching example is a non-white person who speaks very “white” at their job but not otherwise.
But almost everyone does it a bit, I’m a white dude whose accent falls well within the spectrum of standard American English, but I know that I talk differently on the phone at my job than I do with my coworkers sitting at the desk next to me or with my friends and family at home.
I tend to think of “code switching” as tailoring my communication method, but I’m definitely on the spectrum so that has to be taken with a grain of salt.
As I mentioned, I’m from Cajun Louisiana(and made a concerted effort to not sound it thanks in no small part to the Catholic nuns I had as teachers) but I went to grad school in Ohio and it used to startle my housemates when I would speak to my father on the phone. I used to fall into an exaggerated Cajun kind of accent as a way to have fun and in the late 80s/early 90s that wasn’t an accent widely known or heard by Ohioans.
To my mind the difference between sitting with coworkers and friends and family and cod switching would mean crossing some kind of barrier, race/class/ethnicity to the local paradigm.
A kid growing up very Cajun/poor but then going to college and becoming a politician who “speaks well” to their constituents but “Cajun” to his family is code switching.
I have to catch myself because I tend to mimic the speaking styles of people if I’m talking to them for extended periods of time and I don’t want them to think I’m making fun of them. It’s just a technique to be relatable. Otherwise, I’d just sit there quietly.
I have to catch myself because I tend to mimic the speaking styles of people if I’m talking to them for extended periods of time and I don’t want them to think I’m making fun of them.
My dad was a pastor who had lived all over the place growing up. He’s really gregarious, and when they lived in the DC area it was always fun to see him adopt the accent of whoever he’s talking to within a sentence or two!
People who are naturally social, and who need to connect with people as part of their career, mimic speaking styles as well. I think of it as similar to mirroring the body language of your conversational partner; you’d have to be really exaggerated with it to come across as mocking them.
I’ve always known it to be broader than that. I did it in middle and high school. With my gaming/scifi/computer friends I was a D&D geek who knew every monty python line and all the talkbacks to Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Cheese shop or “the man you are about to see has no neck”, anybody?). With the band/orchestra/stage people, I was an artsyfartsy. With the alt/goth industrial crew, I was all-in on the music.
Code switching is about adapting to the environment. In my case, I did it because I was into all those things.
When used in reference to urban kids, it’s unfortunately the way to be taken more seriously by people who have power over you so you aren’t too threatening.
First impressions count, and they are good or bad based on the cultural experience of the one forming the impression.
I think you should seduce your father ASAP.
Why even specify that it’s only familiar to people in the US?
This literally happens to all the bilingual/multilingual people, especially with other similarly bilingual/multilingual (as in, speaking the same languages) people.
For example, I’m Hungarian, I live in the UK, and with other Hungarians, we almost always speak a sort of Hunglish, because some terms simply come to us better in English, or don’t have a direct, frequently used translation.
But I’ve seen the exact same thing happen in border towns all across Europe - most people in those areas will speak the languages of both countries of the border, as thanks to the EU and Schengen, the border is administrative at most, and the people of the town often come and go, requiring both languages, and depending on proficiency, there’s lots of switching going on.
Why even specify that it’s only familiar to people in the US?
Because it’s USA Today
I think it is because code switching goes beyond just the words someone uses, and more into how the words are used, and the cultural expectations that come along with the way those words are said.
A lot of those cultural expectations are very American in flavor.
maybe you also experience the same, I am not sure, but I do think it is deeper than just language.
Because the upthread commenter’s definition is bad. It’s more of a social class/racial discrimination thing, with the stereotypical example being about how black people speak differently in a social context among themselves than they do in a professional context with their white boss. (Note that I’m not endorsing the racist implications; I’m explaining what the code-switching is in response to.) I’m not talking about other languages, either; I’m talking about differences in things like word choice and level of grammatical formality that could, at most, be seen as a different dialect of English.
Being just straight-up bilingual and using different languages in different contexts could maybe be code-switching if there’s an element of social hierarchy involved, but in general is not that.
But that’s something everyone does.
The way we talk with our colleagues isn’t the same as the way we talk with our parents.
Are you doing it as a defense mechanism against discrimination and prejudice? Because that’s what code-switching is about.
I don’t know why you’re being down voted. That’s where the term comes from.
You mostly see it in the US where minorities speak more “white” in order to get/hold jobs and be treated with respect. Body language will change as well. It’s so much more than having a professional face at work and relaxed at home.
Thanks, amigo!
Oh no? Like wtf okay so she speaks a few languages, that’s a good thing.
Holy Guacamole! That’s going to be fun for the ASL interpreter.
Good point! The ASL interpreter would also need to be bilingual with Mexican Sign Language!
